


r- 



•OR FREEDOM 



A MANIFESTATION OF OPPRESSED SLAVIC 
NATIONALITIES OF AUSTRIA- HUNGARY IN 
HONOR OF THE SERBIAN WAR MISSION TO 
THE UNITED STATES 



PUBLISHED BY THE 

SERBIAN NATIONAL DEFENSE LEAGUE 
OF AMERICA 

"J 



MAY 19 1919 



C 






PREFACE 

On January 20th of this year an important Slav meeting 
was held in the big Ball room of the Hotel Astor. Its importance 
lay not only in the fact that it was arranged jointly ty duly 
authorized representatives of 7.000.000 Poles, Czechoslovaks and 
Yugoslavs (Serbs, Croats and Slovenes) living in this country, 
but also in the fact that it was arranged in honor of the Serbian 
Royal Mission to the United States because by expressing their 
admiration for, and solidarity with, Serbia these Austrian Slavs 
proved to be with their heart and soul for the Allies and against 
Austria-Hungary. The meeting in general resulted in being an 
eloquent protest of former Austrian subjects against the un- 
heard of system of violence and oppression practised in Austria- 
Hungary, and its fundamental to;ie,,.was: Long live liberty! — 
Down with Austria! 

At the moment when the Secretary of State desires to an- 
nounce that, after the recognition of a Free and United Poland, 
the nationalistic aspirations of the Czechoslovaks and Yugoslavs 
for freedom, have also the earnest sympathy of the United States' 
Government, it may be of some interest to give a detailed account 
on this first joint action of the Poles, Czechoslovaks and Yugo- 
slavs in America, by publishing the speeches given at the Hotel 
Astor. Far from having lost anything of their actualitv these 
speeches are now of even more immediate significance because 
of the changed position of Austria-Hungary, who, impossible as 
she already was, has after her recent treaty with Germany be- 
come a complete vassal of German militarism. 

In the name of the Czechoslovaks, Mr. Gaza H. Mika spoke, 
in the name of the Poles, Dr. F. Ignatius Drobinski, and in the 
name of the Yugoslavs, Dr. Hinko Hinkovic. Dr. Milenko R. 
Vesnic, chief of the Serbian Mission, and General Mihailo Rasic 
spoke on behalf of Serbia. The chairman of the meeting, General 
Francis V. Greene, also delivered a cordial speech which was 
enthusiastically cheered by the audience; it is repeated here in 
full, as an inseparable part of the whole. 

When this booklet was already in print, Mr. Pierre de Lanux. 
the well known author of "Young France and New America" and 



— 2 — 

of "La Yougoslavie", was kind enough to write an introduction 
which will be undoubtedly welcomed both by experts and be- 
ginners in the complicated problem of oppressed nationalities in 
Austria-Hungary, Being at the same time an old friend of the 
Slavs and a French official he is quite naturally a link between 
the Allies and the Austrian Slavs and has proved it on more than 
one occasion. 

On behalf of the South Slavic National Council, in the name 
of which I had the honor to open the meeting, I herewith express 
my heartfelt gratitude to the Chief and the members of the 
Serbian Royal Mission who accepted our invitation; to the 
Serbian Minister at Washington, Mr. Lj. Mihailovich who atten- 
ded the meeting together with the Mission; to all speakers — 
contributors to this booklet; and, last but not least, to all Ameri- 
can friends who through their presence added very considerably 
to the success of the meeting. May I also deeply thank the 
Czechoslovak singers who, together with the Serbian women in 
their picturesque national costumes, and the Croatian Sokols in 
their uniforms made the meeting a vividly representative one of 
the great purpose of Slavic solidarity. 

New York City, June, 1918. 

M. TRIVOUNATZ, 
President of the Serbian National Defense League of America, 
member of the South Slavic National Council at Washington. 



INTRO DUCTION 

by 
PIERRE de LANUX 
Member of the French High Commission to the United States. 

Once before, I was present at a meeting of delegates from 
all Slavic nations. It was on the night of the first great battle 
in the Balkan war of 1912, at Vrania, a little Serbian city near 
the Turkish front. War correspondents from Bohemia, from 
Croatia, from Bosnia, from every Slavic province, were assembled 
together, scarcely knowing each other, cautiously feeling the 
ground. 

We were awaiting the news from the battle before Skoplie, 
the capital of Macedonia. At nightfall Mr. Pasic, the Serbian 
Premier, came in and said, "Skoplie is taken". 

A sudden current of enthusiasm and of pride ran through 
the gathering, and there I could see, crystallized under my eyes, 
the first great manifestation where the Western Slavs proved 
conscious of their common strength. 

Turkey was defeated. But it was Austria and Germany 
who had received the blow. 

From that night, it was all clear to me, and I wrote to 
France: "Serbian victories are French victories". 

Since October 1912, there have been long and bitter trials 
for the Slavs. Every Slavic group has been threatened and 
shaken and sometimes ruined; still, on January 20th at the 
Hotel Astor, remembering that first, improvised assembly of 
Vrania, I felt a strong, decided optimism. In spite of the terrible 
ordeal, the national problem of the Western Slavs has undoubted- 
ly advanced, in six years, towards its solution. Why? Because 
there is today a wide consciousness and a sincere alliance where 
a few years ago there was provincialism and division. That is 
what I want to insist upon. 

The Will of the People. 

Here you are, three strong unified groups — Yugoslavs, Cze- 
choslovaks and Poles. In Austria-Hungary, in defiance of the old 
policy of division entertained by Vienna, your people have clearly 
manifested their will. In repeated occasions they have endorsed 
the bold action of their representatives, who stood in the Parlia- 



_4 — 

ment with a program of independence and national unity. These 
words appear in all their recent declarations. 

A few months ago, the Yugoslavs and Czechs went so far as 
to amalgamate their political organization. When the Poles 
proved ready to join in, for the Empire there was no other alter- 
native to political bankruptcy than the closing of the Parliament. 

These representatives of your people. Professor Masaryk, 
Dr. Trumbic, Mr. Paderewski, who have founded national 
councils in the Allied Countries, express themselves more freely 
— but there is no difference between their declarations and those 
which are issued at home in the presence of Austro-Prussian 
bayonets. 

At the meeting of January 20th, we listened to the best autho- 
rized representatives of the millions of Poles, Czechoslovaks, and 
Yugoslavs immigrated in the United States. These immigrants, 
in their turn, are the free spokesmen of their oppressed brothers 
in Europe. We have to recognize that wherever a voice of yours 
makes itself heard, the claim is the same and even the words are 
identical. But not with words only have you expressed your 
will. Thousands of volunteers have enlisted in the Polish army 
and in the Czechoslovak army which France recently created 
under "^he political authority of the National Councils of Poland 
and of Bohemia in Paris, thus recognizing the political existence 
of your Nations. President Wilson has formally recognized the 
Polish National Council. There can be no doubt about your 
wishes. If one objected that the Slavs in enemy country are 
perhaps only infuriated by persecution, that the Slavs in allied 
countries are inflamed by the contagion of our creed, then what 
about those 5000 Yugoslavs who had chosen to fight with the 
Russian army, and who after the Russian peace have managed 
to go to Vladivostok, to sail through the Indian Ocean and the 
Red Sea and to join our forces in Salonica, where they fight again 
for their freedom? Who has influenced thenn? 

The Case in full Light. 

It has been long and hard work to expose your case, to 
defend your claim, before an indifferent, ignorant world which 
had bad habits of thinking. You have been disappointed, deluded 
many times. But now results are at hand. Inter-Allied difficulties 
have been removed, and with the recent Congress of Rome, with 
the Congress of Paris that will take place very soon, your case 
is now in full light. 

You deserve freedom, first because each people "great or 
small" deserves freedom and needs it as we need the air in which 
to breathe. 



— 5 — 

You deserve our help because you, Southern Slavs, have 
sacrificed yourselves in the Dobrudja and on the Macedonian 
front; you, Czechoslovaks, in the Carpathians have fought in 
such a way that "the world ought to fall on its knees before you", 
as General Brussilov said, and you, Poles, had to fight not only 
persecution, but also insidious, treacherous attempts to win your 
consent to your own dismemberment. 

You deserve America's help because you stand strictly for 
the principles she herself upholds, and because your fight for 
independence is a striking repetition of the earlier times of Amer- 
ican Revolution. 

The Present Duty. 

The future of the Western Slavs now depends first upon 
themselves. They have to sacrifice everything to unity and 
community of efforts. No longer is this a time for party divi- 
sions. Nations will not be saved by one party or another, but 
nations will live or perish according to the unity shown by their 
members. 

About the disposition of the civilized world concerning the 
right of self-determination of the people, according to clearly 
recognizable lines of nationality, there is no more doubt to be 
entertained. The civilized world knows at last that it will have 
no permanent peace until this self-determination is put into 
practice. 

Austria-Hungary's structure is in opposition with that right. 
Now, if the peoples under that monarchy, faithful to themselves 
and acting as our allies, contribute to our victory and dissolve 
the empire into independent nations with democratic constitu- 
tions and with a renewed vitality, this will be no destructive dis- 
memberment, it will be a constructive liberation of the enslaved. 

If then Austria-Hungary is at last replaced by something 
better, the Western World cannot but ardently approve of its 
disparition. 

What becomes of your nations at the end of the war will 
be evidence of victory for one side or the other. Whatever the 
other results will be, Germany keeping her control over subject 
races is a victorious Germany. Deprived of that control and 
reduced to her real dimensions, population and boundaries, she 
is made harmless, and the world can resume its normal life. 



— 6 — 
Address of General Francis V. Greene. 
Ladies and Gentlemen — 

This meeting is called to welcome Dr. Vesnich and his 
colleagues of the Serbian Mission and also to give an opportunity 
for speakers of the different branches of the great Slavic race to 
give expression to the hopes and aspirations, the intentions and 
purposes of their respective peoples. 

Dr. Vesnich: It is indeed a high privilege in welcoming to 
this liberty-loving land your Excellency and your colleagues of the 
Serbian Mission, Froim the day when Patrick Henry made that 
soul-stirring speech to the Virginia House of Burgesses which 
ended with the impassioned appeal "As for me, give me liberty 
or give me death" — from that day, one hundred and forty three 
years ago, until this very hour, the American heart has always 
beat warmly in sympathy for those who in any part of the world 
were fighting for their liberty, for the right to live their own 
lives, choose their own form of government and select their own 
governing officials. And surely, Sir, your gallant compatriots 
have gained the sympathy and admiration of all Americans, for 
Serbia has for nearly two centuries been fighting for liberty, 
first against the hideous cruelty of the unspeakable Turk, and 
then against the intolerable tyranny of the Austrian despot. In 
1804 your ancestors first took arms against the Turks; in 1830, 
with the aid of the most powerful nation of the Slavic race — 
Russia — Serbia gained its autonomy with a ruling Prince sprung 
from its own soil; in 1876, in support of your brothers in Bosnia 
and Herzegovina, you again went to war with the Turk, and 
although at first defeated by overwhelming numbers, you did in 
1878, again with the aid of Russia, become an absolutely inde- 
pendent state; finally, in 1914, the destruction of Serbia in the 
Southeast as of Belgium in the Northwest was the basis of the 
Teutonic plan for the conquest of the world, and it was upon 
Serbia that the first blow fell. But so gallant a defense did your 
brave country make that three times were the Austrians driven 
back, and it was only in the second year of the war when Germany 
and Bulgaria came to the aid of Austria, and all these Empires 
united to crush a nktion less than one tenth of Austria's size 
in population and resources, that the Serbian army was forced 
to retreat into Albania, the Serbian people were overwhelmed with 
murder and rapine, and the beautiful valleys and hills of Serbia 
given over to devastation and destruction. But amid the ruins 
of their homes and their property, the Serbian people have saved 
their souls untarnished and unconquered. As your people of 



— 7 — 

today have received from their ancestors the noble heritage of 
their struggle for liberty, so in turn you transmit to your 
descendants the priceless gift of your valiant conduct in this 
great war for human freedom. 

In the war which resulted from the action of Serbia in 1876 
it was my good fortune to accompany the Russian Army from 
the Danube, through Plevna and Shipka, the Balkans and Sofia, 
Philippopolis and Adrianople to Constantinople; and in that 
campaign to form an intimate friendship with one of the 
greatest soldiers of modern times — Skobeleff — and through 
him to gain some knowledge of the Slavic character and aspira- 
tions. Russia, which has for so many generations been the leader 
of the Slavs, the big brother of the less powerful Slavic States, 
and which came so nobly to their aid in 1829, in 1876, and in 
1814, is today temporarily incapacitated and can not help you 
now. Russia has gained her own liberty, but has not yet organized 
it. She has yet to learn that without the support of law and 
order liberty cannot survive. All nations have to learn that 
fundamental lesson, each in its own way. From 1783 when we 
gained our liberty until 1789 when we established our present 
form of government, these United States were thirteen separate 
communities, jealous of each other, quarrelling among them- 
selves, financially bankrupt, and rapidly drifting toward anarchy. 
Then, through the practical genius of Washington and Hamilton, 
a "more perfect Union" was established and a Constitution 
adopted under which we have made that progress which has 
astounded the world and placed us in the front rank of nations. 
Similarly France, which began her revolution in 1789, has run 
the whole gamut of social and political development, through 
the reign of terror, the rule of Napoleon, the restoration of 
the monarchy, the second revolution of 1848, the second Empire, 
the Commune, and finally the third Republic. At last, after 
nearly a hundred years of prolonged birth pains, she found her 
permanent form of government under which she has in this 
present war for freedom given such an example of heroic spirit 
as shall be an inspiration for all time to those who seek to gain 
or maintain their liberty. Russia is now following this same 
difficult path ; for the time being intoxicated with the first deep 
draughts of liberty; and in her case the task is greatly compli- 
cated by the fact that barely ten per cent of her population can 
read and write, and that her territory is so vast and her means 
of communication so limited. But a race which has produced 
Pushkin, Tolstoi and Dostoievsky in literature, Tchaikovsky in 
music, Verestchagin in painting, and Skobeleff in war — such 
^ race will ultimately consolidate its revolution, develop the 



form of free government best adapted to its national character 
and under such government will attain its full measure of happi- 
ness and prosperity. How long this will take, no man can say; 
but that it will ultimately be achieved is as certain as the move- 
ment of the stars in their courses. For the present, however, 
Russia is not a factor, and the leadership which she has so long 
excercised in Slavic affairs now passes. Sir, to your devoted 
country, Serbia. Small by comparison, as your country is in area 
and population, she is fully competent to take this leadership, 
and will worthily perform its duties, for Serbia has shown that 
she possesses those qualities of soul, which far more than size 
or wealth determine the greatness of nations. 

And now. Ladies and Gentlemen, it is peculiarly agreeable 
that in this great city of New York we should have an opportu- 
nity to hear from scions of the Slavic race their own statement 
of the part which they should take and the dispositions which 
they should receive in this momentous settlement of the affairs 
of men and of nations, wliich is now being worked out on the 
battlefields of Europe. Twenty five years ago no one but a 
madman would have imagined that we should ever be engaged 
in a great European War and that we should take part in deciding 
the future of Belgium, of France, of Poland, of Bohemia and of 
the Balkan States. Our foreign policy has been guided by two 
shining beacon lights: first, the Farewell Address of Washing- 
ton, in which he enjoined us to avoid entangling alliances in 
Europe; and second, the Monroe Doctrine which we flung out 
to the world a generation later, and in which we declared that 
no European State should acquire any additional territory in 
Europe; and second, the Monroe Doctrine which we flung out 
to the world a generation later, and in which we declared that 
no European State should acquire any additional territory in 
the Western Hemisphere, or interfere in the political administra- 
tion of any State in that Hemisphere. And strange to say, though 
we took this step while still a feeble state, almost without an 
army or a navy, yet so strong is the force of a righteous idea, 
no nation has seriously questioned that Doctrine, although a 
century has elapsed since it was promulgated. But out of a 
clear sky in 1898 we went to war to liberate Cuba — and at its 
end to our astonishment, found ourselves a World Power with 
new possessions in the Atlantic and in the Far East, and all the 
complications and responsibilities inseparable from our new 
position. Probably no war was ever fought in which the cost 
in life and treasure was so slight and the political consequences 
so far reaching. Now we find ourselves engaged in a World 
War, and in spite of all the delays and mistakes and confusion 



— 9 — 

due to our total lack of preparedness, we shall be in it until the 
end and shall be a mighty factor in determining the terms of the 
peace with which it will be concluded. Our President has re- 
cently (January 8th) set forth "The program of the world's 
peace", and I call your attention to the first of his fourteen 
articles. I will read his exact words: "1. Open covenants of 
peace, openly arrived at, after which there shall be no private 
understandings of any kind, but diplomacy shall proceed always 
frankly and in the public view". 

Now, what does this mean? It is manifest that the negotia- 
tions of diplomacy can not be carried on in the market place or 
by town meetings. But it is equally certain that the public can 
be advised of what is in process of negotiation and be allowed to 
express their opinion in regard to it before the negotiation is 
closed; in other words, that diplomacy shall not be a matter of 
secret negotiation between high officers of the contracting 
parties but that it shall be carried on under the guidance of an 
enlightened public opinion, and that such opinion shall be based 
upon public knowledge of the essential facts. Such meetings as 
this of today are just what is needed in order that such an 
enlightened public opinion can be formed and crystallized. We 
have a deep sympathy with people struggling to acquire the 
liberty which we have so long enjoyed, but we have not an 
intimate knowledge of the facts in regard to their situation. 
Until the outbreak of the war the very names — Croatia, Istria, 
Dalmatia, the Morava, the Drave, Lodz, etc. were unknown to 
the great mass of the American people. Of the social life, the 
economic resources, the political conditions, the history and tradi- 
tions, the aspirations and affiliations of the millions of Slavic 
people in Poland, in Bohemia, and in the Balkan States we have 
much to learn. And it is essential that we learn it, for we have 
given the most solemn pledges that we will see justice done to 
these people. The President has said that "we see very clearly 
that unless justice be done to others it will not be done to us"; 
and further that "iii regard to these essential rectifications of 
wrong and assertions of right we feel ourselves to be intimate 
partners of all the governments and peoples associated together 
against the imperialists"; and finally he has given our word 
that "we stand together until the end". These pledges have 
been given with practically no dissenting voice in all this broad 
land. They have been approved with an approach to absolute 
unanimity almost unknown in our history as a nation. If now 
we fail to support these pledges with appropriate acts and to 
carry on the war until they are redeemed, then we shall have 



— 10 — 

broken our word and shall stand before the world disgraced and 
disonored. But rest assured, my friends, we shall not fail. 

In doing our duty we shall be guided not alone by altruistic or 
emotional motives, but also by an enlightened self-interest. 
Fortunately for us, the paths of duty and of advantage run side 
by side and lead to the same goal, for our independance is at 
stake as well as that of the Slavs. If Germany can and does win 
this war, she can and will destroy us. If we do not gain your 
freedom, we shall lose our own. Absorbed as we have been with 
our own affairs, and ignorant of the real situation in Europe and 
the actual designs of Germany, it took us nearly three years be- 
fore we realized that this is our war, that our interest in it 
is just as acute and vital as that of France, or Great Britain, 
or Italy, or Belgium. It may take us some time longer before 
we realize how important is the relation of the Slavic peoples 
to the outcome of the war and to our success in it. As the map 
now stands, the destinies of 176,000,000 people are controlled 
from Berlin, and of these less than 70,000,000 are Germans in 
race or language or sympathy. If Germany can make peace on 
that basis, then in the future wars, which she is already planning 
and one of which would be against us, for every two German 
soldiers she would have three soldiers of other races whom she 
would compel to fight against their own brethren as she now 
compels the Alsatians to fight against their brethren in France. 
On such a basis as this the project for submitting the world to 
the domination of Prussian Kultur is no mere idle dream but is 
well within the domain of actual possibility and even probability. 
How is such an unspeakable calamity to be prevented? My 
answer — I speak only for myself but I am confident that be- 
fore this year 1918 is ended it will be the opinion of the great 
body of Americans — by surrounding Germany with a number 
of independent Slavic states: a free Poland extending to the 
Baltic; a free Bohemia; and Serbia expanded into a great Jugo- 
slav state extending from the Adriatic to the Aegean; these 
free and independent States to be not only established but 
to be supported, so long as is necessary to maintain, 
their independence not only by our political and military strength 
but above all by our economic strength ; so that they may be able 
to develop their own enormous economic resources, which have 
been so completely suppressed by the aliens who have ruled them, 
until they gain such strength that they no longer need our 
support. If such a project is realized, then Mittel-Europa is an 
idle dream and world domination is impossible. And unless we 
falter and fail in the task to which the President has pledged 
that the people of the United States "are ready to devote their 



— 11 — 

lives, their honor, and every thing that they possess", then this 
project will be realized. 

But I fear that I have taken more of your time than belongs 
to the presiding officer and that you are impatient to hear the 
speakers who are so well qualified to address you on these 
stirring and far-reaching subjects, and whom I shall now in- 
troduce to you, — first, however, standing to hear the noble 
strains of the Serbian National Hymn as you have already heard 
the Star Spangled Banner, so beautifully sung by the Czechoslo- 
vak Singjng Society. 



Address of Gaza H. Mika. 

In introducing Mr. Gaza H. Mika, the Chairman of the meet- 
ing said: 

"The first speaker is an .-Vinerican citizen, a practising law- 
yer in New Haven Conn., but he was born and his mother still 
lives — at least he hopes she does, for it is two years, since he has 
had news of her — in far away Bohemia, at no great distance 
from the city of Pressburg. liike many otliers, this speaker has 
given up his ordinary avocations in order to devote his entire ti- 
me to activities connected with the war. He will speak to you 
concerning the Czechoslovaks, as a duly authorized representati- 
ve of 1,500,000 Czechoslovaks living in this country. 

"t have much pleasure in introducing Mr. Gaza H. Mikn". 

The citizens of New York feel proud of the privilege to wel- 
come in their midst the distinguished representatives of the 
Serbian nation. The courageous stand of the Serbian people, 
when, in the summer of 1914, they were summarily requested to 
surrender a part of their hard-won liberties has long been a sub- 
ject of admiration. Their valiant resistance has long ago elicited- 
the merited praise of her friends and also the acknowledgments 
of her enemies. Like a gallant "Spartan band" the Serbian 
Heroes stood their ground till further resistance was useless. 
Overwhelmed in the end by a superior foe, commanding greater 
numbers, possessing more instruments of war, and surpassing 
even Attila and his tribe of Huns in wantonness and cruelty, they 
were at length forced to yield. 

Nevertheless, the Spirit of Serbia is still alive. When the 
sufferings of the present war shall have been forgotten, when 
the crimes that have been committed in the name of Teutonic 
Kultur shall have passed out of the memory of man, the name 
of Serbia will still ring true and continue to inspire and thrill 
the hearts of all who love justice, and are willing to protect and 
defend her. 



— 12 — 

It would be needless to dwell on, Serbia's contributions to 
humanity and civilization. Let the Germans talk about and 
advertise their achievements, Serbia needs no press agents. But, 
even if Serbia had never been heard of before, the courageous 
resistance of her men, the noble sacrifices of her women, and the 
bold stand of her armies, when in effect they said to the Teuton 
hordes "Thus far canst thou go and no farther" would be suffi- 
cient to immortalize her name. 

If there be a people that can really appreciate and sym- 
pathize with all that Serbia has accomplished, then it is those 
who like Serbia of today are suffering beneath the oppressive 
yoke of the Hapsburgs. The Poles, the Yugoslavs, and the 
Czechoslovaks know full well what it means to be deprived of 
their liberty and independence. The Czechoslovaks were deprived 
of their rights and privileges one after another; even those 
the imost sacred to the hearts of a people that proudly points to 
John Hus as their national idol, have been shamefully trodden 
under foot. To their sorrow they have learned that Austria as 
a friend, is far more to be feared than Austria as an enemy. 

What Serbia is now going through, and it must be admitted 
that even the tyrannous hand of the Turk lay not so heavily 
on the shoulders of the Serbian people as the supposedly cultured 
and benevolent hand of the Hapsburgs, the Czechoslovaks have 
had to contend with for centuries. They know what it means to 
have their mother tongue banished into exile ; to have their men, 
women and children massacred en masse and deprived of their 
possessions. 

It is reported that about 20 per cent of the Serbs and 
Yugoslavs have already been annihilated. At the end of the 
Thirty Years War hardly a third of the inhabitants of Bohemia 
was left alive, and since then life has been worse than slavery. 
Long before the present war began the Czechoslovaks 
realized that the interests of the Poles, the Yugoslavs and the 
Czechoslovaks were identical ; that a common danger was 
threatening the national existence of all. Consequently among 
the volunteers who rallied to the defense of Serbia, when in 
previous wars that country sought to insure her position in the 
Balkans, there was no small percentage of Czechoslovaks. They 
knew that Whatever advantage would accrue to Serbia would 
simultaneously redound to their interests. 

The problem that is now facing Serbia, and the Yugoslavs, 
is the same problem that must be solved before the once glorious 
Polish state is reconstructed and before the Czechoslovaks can 
attain national unity and independence. These three nations 
have a multitude of interests in common ; they have all been the 



— 13 — 

A^ictims of a tyrannous autocracy, they have all lost their indepen- 
dence for a time; they have all had to pass through the same 
fiery test, and so they must also fight and win together. Realizing 
the common danger that threatens each individually they shall 
henceforth cooperate more and more, to the end, that autocracy 
may be banished from the earth and the world made safe for 
democracy. The very fact that the Yugoslavs, the Poles and the 
Czechoslovaks, are jointly welcoming the Serbian Royal Com- 
mission, is an evidence of their unity of purpose and solidarity 
of interests. Together with the Allies and America, they must 
succeed in attaining the common aims of all humanity. 

I was asked to lay before you their complaints and their 
aspirations. There is no use discussing the past, it is to the future 
that we look. And in a few words, a mere sentence, I may say 
that the aims of the Poles, the Yugoslavs, the Czechoslovaks, 
-and other oppressed nations of Europe, are no other than the 
aims that forced the Minute Men of 1776 to leave their hearths 
and strike for liberty. Their aim is the same as that, for the 
attainment of which, hundreds of thousands of lives were sacri- 
ficed here in American unity and independence. And, we have 
full reason to believe that when the war is over their legal and 
national claims shall have been recognized and approved. 

None of these have any aspirations beyond their own ethnic 
borderland. Unlike that of the Germans and Magyars, their 
guiding principle is now, and always has been, that he who is 
unwilling to grant liberty to others is himself unworthy of it. 
All they seek is freedom to pursue their own manner of living, 
unhindered and unthreatened. And just as they are fighting 
for their own rights, they are willing to respect and even defend 
the rights of others. Of this they have already given ample 
proof. 

And so, outside of the Germano-Magyar-Bulgaro-Turkish 
combination the world stands united in its determination to 
remove the Teuton menace from the face of the earth, even 
though the war should have to go on until even "uncondi- 
tional surrender" would be welcomed by the present enemies 
of humanity. 

Even the Russian people are in their own way striving for 
the same aims. We must not judge Russia too harshly, she has 
already accomplished much and she has suffered even more. 
It will take time to bring order out of chaos. But the heart of 
Russia is still sound. With the memories of Czarist absolutism 
still before them, it is inconceivable that the Russian people or 
any considerable faction of them should favor Germany or 
Austria. Have faith in Russia. The time is not distant when 



— 14 — 

the present attitude of America towards Russia as outlined by 
the President shall have been thoroughly vindicated. In their 
own way, which is not without its effect, the Russians are also 
exerting their influence for democracy. 

Thus we stand united in purpose, fighting and bleeding for 
the same cause, having full confidence that right and justice 
will finally prevail and believing also that just as the fatal treaty 
of Berlin is frequently spoken of, as one of the leading causes 
of the present war, so the coming treaty will be the foundation 
of a lasting peace. We hope and believe that it will be founded on 
a satisfied nationalism, for this is a prerequisite of all future 
international agreements, tending to preserve peace and prevent 
wars. In this common task America, as ever heretofore, will 
use her influence for good and it is to her that the world now 
turns for help and guidance. 



Address of Dr. F. Ignatius Drobinski. 

In introducing Dr. Drobinski Ihe Chairman said: 

"In our Revolution two young men left their homes in Eu- 
rope to join Washington's army. — Lafayette and Kosciusko. 
Their statues are now in the same public square in the city of 
Washington. They both rendered distinguished and valuable ser- 
vice. In the association of these 3 men as comrades in arms — 
Washington, Lafayette and Kosciusko — we see the first symbol 
of that association of the three races, the Anglo-Saxon, the La- 
tin and the Slav, which is to be so potent in the future. These 
are the races which will decide this war and it is they and not 
the Teutons and their Kaiser who will hereafter control the desti- 
nies of the world. 

"Nearly 5.000.000 of his countrymen have come to live in the 
country and under the government which Kosciusko helped to 
establish. They are industrious, hardworkinp:, valuable citizens, 
who have taken an honorable part in its development. 

"He who will speak for them i? a fine tjTpe of his race, an 
American citizen, a practising physician. 

"I have much pleasure in intr'oducing Dr. P. Ignatius Dro- 
binski, President of the Polish Department, in which all Polish 
organizations of this country are united." 

Dr. Drobinsi^i opened his speech with the greetings from 
Ignace Paderewski, who repretted that he was detained by im- 
portant business in Washington. 

Your Excellencies of the Serbian Royal Mission, 
Mr. Chairman, 
Ladies and Gentlemen, 

It is my very great privilege and honor to have been selected 
by the Polish group to convey to the Serbian National Com- 



— 15 — 

mission our great admiration, for the bravery and fortitude of 
Serbia, and our deep and sincere sympathies for the tortures and 
sufferings of the Serbian People. 

Excepting the Yugoslavs, Czechoslovaks and Poles, who 
from sad experience knew better, the world in general firmly 
believed in such a thing as Teuton culture. It did not under- 
stand how armed men could wage war against defenseless women 
and children, but after the atrocities committed by the Austro- 
Germanic hordes in Serbia, Belgium, France and Poland the 
picture was changed. The Teuton stood revealed in his true 
colors. The world then realized what was in store for mankind 
if Austro-German scheming and militarism were not defeated, 
and the world made safe for freemen to live in. 

Being of Slavonic origin, the Poles rejoice that it was a Slav 
State Serbia who in this war first drew her sword in the defense 
of her own and the rights of men in general against arrogant 
dictatorship of the Teutons, while Poles in the United States, 
citizens of this country by birth or naturalization, attached to 
the history and traditions of this country by strong bonds of 
loyalty and fidelity, rejoice doubly that it will be the moral and 
material power of the United States which will so greatly aid 
in delivering the death blow to Austro-German scheming and 
lust for world power . 

At so general a gathering of the Slavs it seems quite natural 
that each group would voice its grievances against the common 
enemy. 

We do not wish further to accuse the already criminally 
convicted States of Austria-Hungary and Germany. Their con- 
duct and diplomatic duplicity in neutral and formally neutral 
States; their lack of scruples, their crimes against humanity 
have so firmly convinced mankind of their true character as to 
leave little for us to add or detract. 

But we Poles can never forget Austrian ingratitude for her 
deliverance from the Turk. Her instigations of fratricidal 
massacres are still fresh in our minds, while her strong economic 
oppression of Galicia which drove thousands upon thousands of 
Polish peasants from their homes and fertile farms is of such 
recent origin that it is well known to all. That is why Poles 
appreciate and sympathize so greatly with the sufferings of 
Serbia at the hands of their common source of misfortune. 

As to Germany, much could be said of her oppressive conduct 
and low standard of morality in regard to Poland but these are 
historical facts well known to the world and still better proven 
by German counduct in the World War. 

Polish aims and aspirations for a Free, United, and Inde- 



— 16 — 

pendent Poland with an outlet to the sea are perfectly under- 
stood, and recently have been so strongly brought to the fore- 
ground in the various war aims speeches of the Entente leaders 
that we may consider them an almost accomplished fact. But 
we also hope to see Serbia fulfill her great mission on earth, 
that of liberating and uniting her people enslaved by Austria- 
Hungary. That of forming the Yugoslavs into a free and inde- 
pendent nation with an indivisible territory, a unity of power 
and free access to the Adriatic Sea. We sincerely hope and wish 
to see a strong, free and independent Czechoslavia, that great 
nation of Slavonic democrats. Such a Poland, such a Czecho- 
slavia, an dsuch a Yugoslavia, a trio of liberty - loving States 
stretching from the Baltic to the Adriatic are the only possible 
antidote to the German desires of a German Central Europe. It 
is the only bulwark that will stop the Teutonic rush to the East. 
And the sooner that is accomplished, the better will it be for 
mankind. There cannot be a wt)rld peace without a settlement, 
and a just settlement of this question. 



Address of Dr. Hinko Hinkovic. 

In introducing Dr. Hinkovic tlio Chairman said: 
"The next, speaker is fresh from the scene of the conflict. 
His home is in Croatia, he was a member of the Croatian and 
also of the Hung'arian Diet. He has been long in public life and 
also an advocate in the practice of the law. When Austria-Hun- 
gary seized Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1908, he rendered im- 
mense service to large numbers cf people in those unfortunate 
countries who liad been thrown 'into prison for no cause, but 
were rescued af^er some months ond released as a result of his 
tireless efforts in their behalf. He will speak in the name of the 
1-outh-SIavic National Council, in which the Serbian, Croatian and 
Slovenian organizations of this country are united. 

"I have much pleasure in introducing Dr. Hinko Hinkovi6". 

In Austria-Hungary there are seven and a half million South- 
em Slavs or Jugoslavs occupying in compact masses the whole 
South-East of the Monarchy. Although appearing under three 
denominations — Serbs, Croats and Slovenes — they are of the 
same race, speaking the same language, having the same customs, 
traditions, aspirations and economic interests — the same 
national soul. These Austro-Hungarian Jugoslavs are racially 
identical with the five millions of Serbs in Serbia and Monte- 
negro. All these Jugoslavs have the ardent desire of uniting 
in one independent State. 

The first condition of the creation of a Jugoslav State is, 



— 17 — 

of course, the liberation of those Jugoslavs who languish under 
the Austro-Magyar yoke. The breaking off of the Jugoslav 
provinces and their union with Serbia and Montenegro would be 
a notable territorial diminution of the Dual Monarchy and a 
sensible weakening of her military power. It would be more 
than that; it would be a real death blow to her. The Eastern 
Adriatic shore is Jugoslav. By losing it, Austria-Hungary would 
be cut off from the sea and, by this very fact, cease to be a great 
Power. 

On the other side, the Jugoslav provinces of Austria-Hunga- 
ry form with Serbia and Montenegro a continuous territorial and 
economic block. If Serbia by herself proved a remarkable obstacle 
to the German scheme of Mittel-Europa, a united Jugoslavia 
would be an incomparably graver obstruction. Therefore, accord- 
ing to the Austro-German plan, the Jugoslav movement for union 
had to be checked at any cost. 

Thus the Austrian ultimatum of July 23, 1914 to Serbia was 
the inauguration of a war not only against Serbia, but against 
Austro-Hungary's Jugoslav subjects as well — a war of exter- 
mination of the whole Jugoslav race. 

As a result of the war, starvation, epidemics of cholera and 
typhus, and the unspeakable atrocities committed in Serbia and 
the Jugoslav provinces of Austria-Hungary, more than twenty 
per cent of our race has already been exterminated. 

Thus, this war began as a tragic conflict between two great 
ideas: the Pangerman and the Jugoslav idea; in which conflict 
Serbia as the champion of the latter represents the Right and 
the sacred principles of Democracy, while the Central Powers 
stand for brutal force and the most hideous product of Autocracy 
— Prussian Militarism. 

It would be too pretentious to maintain that the world war 
is being waged only for, or against Serbia. The struggle goes on 
for the World Power of Germany v. Liberty of Mankind. But 
Serbia, was the first stumbling block to be removed by Germany. 
This role is a great honour for Serbia. By it she ewtered glori- 
ously into the history of the world. 

Thus it becomes clear how the attack on little Serbia set 
afire nearly the whole of our planet. 

The real Serbia, as shown by the Balkan war and this war, 
was a revelation to the world. Her glory spread through all 
continents. I will not recall the heroic achievements of her 
army, driving out and defeating twice, she the little David, the 
Austrian Goliath. Neither will I recall how she repudiated the 
offer of a separate peace by which she could have saved her 
territory. In the choice between ruin and honour she did not 



— 18 — 

hesitate a moment. By this deed of highest morality, little Serbia 
became with little Belgium, her martyr-sister, one of the greatest 
nations that History has ever known. , / . ' / 

Is it necessary to emphasize the notorious services ren- 
dered to the common cause of the Allies by the Jugoslavs of 
Austro-Hungary, who, seizing every opportunity, surrendered 
in the number of 150,000 to the Russians and over 50,000 to the 
Serbians, fighting afterwards by tens of thousands as volunteers 
against the Central Powers? Thousands of Jugoslavs who found 
on the free and hospitable soil of the United States another 
home, have already sailed to the Salonika front to fight there 
under the glorious Star Spangled Banner. 

All this would entitle the Yugoslavs to the sympathy of 
the Allies for their national claims. 

But we do not want our aspirations to be based on favours. 
Our cause is an eminently just one. 

From time to time, we hear authoritative representatives of 
the Allied nations promising solemnly to Serbia an integral resto- 
ration, even an enlargement of her territory with an outlet to 
the sea. That would mean that the bulk of the Jugoslav race 
would remain under Austria-Hungary. Such a solution would 
be disastrous. Serbia has no imperialistic designs at all. She is 
not waging a war of conquest. She does not struggle for a greater 
Serbia, i. e., to get more land, but for the deliverance of her sub- 
dued kinsmen and the union of our whole race. It would be equally 
false to speak of a great Jugoslavia. She ought not to be greater 
or smaller, but the Jugoslavia including the whole of our national 
territory. It is cruel to concede us graciously the outlet to a 
sea, on the shores of which we have been settled for nearly 
thirteen centuries! 

Our claims are based on the principle of nationality, that is 
on the right of a people of the same blood, language, customs and 
economic interests to constitute one nation. Once it was from 
the East that the Light came to mankind. Now it is the West 
v/hich sends the Gospel of Liberty to the small nations of the old 
Continent. It will be the eternal glory of the great Democracy 
of the United States of Ajmerica, that it proclaimed this Gospel 
through their illustrious President. Its first axiom is the equali- 
ty of rights of small and big nations, and the second, the right 
of self-determination for every people. 

These two principles are the cornerstones of our future 
Jugoslav State. In the negative, the Austrians and Magyars have 
no right to keep our people in slavery; and in the positive, we 
have the right to throw off their yoke. 

The Jugoslav program is drawn up in the Declaration of 



— 19 — 

Corfu, July 20th, 1917. Its authors are the Serbian Government 
and the Jugoslav Committee in London as representatives, the 
former of Serbia, and the latter of the Jugoslavs in Austria- 
Hungary. The Serbs, Croats and Slovenes — proclaims the 
Declaration — constitute by blood, language and all vital interests 
one and the same nation. This virtually already united nation 
desires ardently the liberation of its unfortunate meimbers who 
languish under the Austro-Magyar domination. All Serbs, 
Croats and Slovenes wish to form, on the broadest demo- 
cratic basis, one independent state, embracing the whole Jugo- 
slav race. 

The Declaration is based on the principe of nationality 
and the right of self-determination of peoples. 

The Act of Corfu has been communicated to all Allied Pow- 
ers. Lord Robert Cecil acknowledged recently in the House of 
Commons the "great interest and sympathy" of the British 
Government for the Programme of Corfu. Its high importance 
is obvious. Serbia has endorsed the Jugoslav programme as 
her war aim. She has officially accepted the role of a Jugoslav 
Piedmont and has notified her Allies of this fact. She has be- 
come, the diplomatic spokesman of the Austro-Hungarian Jugo- 
slavs and the representative of the whole future united Jugoslav 
State. Potentially, this State is already in existence, and the 
Corfu Declaration is its birth certificate. 

On the other hand, the Austro-Hungarian Jugoslavs by 
this Act "officially" became rebels to the Dual Monarchy. 
Abroad, of course, in the allied Countries, they ceased to be 
aliens, even friendly aliens. They became one of the immediate 
allies especially of the Unted States, where they are living in 
such large numbers. 

Jugoslav unification implies the collapse of Austria-Hunga- 
ry. Fortunately for us, this is also the indispensable condition 
of a true victory of the Allies and a future security for the world. 
Germany has at presen almost accomplished her chief aim in this 
war: the establishment of communication from the Baltic to the 
Near East. Pan-German "Central Europe" is realized in its 
principal points. Germany controls not only Austria-Hungary 
and the Balkans, but Turkey as well, and the control of these 
immense territories is a basis for her world domination. 

Mittel-Europa is the foundation of Germany's world power, 
and of this asset Austria-Hungary is the centre. Without Austria- 
Hungary there can be no Mittel-Europa, and without thi?., the 
Pangerman dreatms must dwindle away. By the preservation of 
Austria-Hungary, Germany would keep the enormous geogra- 
phical, military and economic advantages which have enabled 



— 20 — 

her to prolong this war and which would enable her, if it is- 
necessary for her plans, to start very soon a new one. If 
Austria-Hungary survives this war, Germany has won it, what- 
ever peace conditions she may concede. The Slav and Latin 
peoples of the Dual Monarchy, all of whom are hostile to Germa- 
ny, would, through the vassalage of the Hapsburgs, remain under 
German control. On the contrary, if freed from this control, they 
will immediately form a strong defensive wall against Germany. 

In his last message to Congress, President Wilson pointed 
out that the peoples of Austria-Hungary shall be given the full- 
est opportunity for an autonomous development. But with all 
respect to the President, we beg him to believe that any demo- 
cratization of Austria-Hungary is absolutely impossible. 

A real autonomy conceded to all the nationalities would 
crush the hegemony of the Austrians, Pangermans and the 
Magyar Junkers upon which the actual construction of the Haps- 
burg Empire is based. Never, unless they are forced to it, will 
they give up their dominating position. Besides this, the Haps- 
burgs themselves would revoke all concessions at the first oppor- 
tunity. Their constitutional charters are but scraps of paper^ 
their sworn oaths are but perjuries. Croatia, my native country, 
has a wide autonomy, but only nominally, and even this autono- 
my which has never been observed, was in the course of thirty 
years twice suspended by the Sovereign who, as Apostolic King, 
had sworn to observe it. 

No autonomy whatever can satisfy us; we want absolute 
independence. 

Austria-Hungary must be disrupted. Her survival would 
mean the Kaiser's victory. Only an integral victory of the 
Allies can crush Austria-Hungary. 

Only an integral victory can bring to the Jugoslavs their 
deliverance and union, and to the world lasting peace and 
freedom. An independent Czecho-Slovakia and Poland will be 
the first line of defense against Pangermanism, and Jugoslavia 
will be the second. The more complete the State of Jugoslavia, 
the more efficient will be her resistance. 

Since the Corfu Declaration, all Jugoslavs consider the 
Serbian Government as their government, and therefore we 
consider you, gentlemen of the Serbian Mission, as the spokes- 
men of the whole Jugoslav race and their national aspirations. 
In the name of the South Slavic National Council as representa- 
tive of the Austro-Hungarian Jugoslavs in the United States, 
I am happy to welcome you on this free American soil and thank 



21 



you very heartily for your advocating our sacred cause before 
this greatest Democracy in the World. 



Address of General Rasic. 

General Mihailo Rasic was not scheduled on the program 
as a speaker, but General Greene, giving voice to the general 
wish of the audience, persuaded him to give an address. General 
Rasic is a well-known Serbian army chief, and was in command 
of the rear-guard during the Serbian retreat of 1915. 

Speaking in Serbian, General Rasic said that what he be- 
lieved to be just now the foremost duty of every Slav in America 
was to help win the war. He then dwelt upon the vast importance 
of America's help to our comimon Allied cause in Europe, and 
concluded his speech with: "Long live America! Long live Jugo- 
slavia!" amid enthusiastic cheers from the entire audience. 



Address of Dr. Vesnic. 



Dr. Vesnic, chief of the Serbian Mission, was the next 
speaker after General Rasic. 

Dr. Vesnic paid a high tribute to the moral spirit of the 
American people and drew a parallel between the two ideals for 
which this war is being waged — the Teutonic and the Allied. 
Speaking particularly of the wrongs inflicted by the Austrian 
and Hungarian autocrats upon their Slav subjects, he likewise 
emphasized the need for the realisation of all the aims and ideals 
of the Serbs, Croats and Slovenes of Austria-Hungary, viz., their 
liberation and unification in one State together with their broth- 
ers of Serbia. 

"We are certain that, even as morality must overcome im- 
morality and freedom overcome slavery, so in time to come Right 
must end by conquering Might. When that comes to pass, we 
shall rejoice in the knowledge that the greatest of all despotic 
rulers has been driven to cover, never again to dictate to an 
enlightened people what it shall do and what it shall not do. We 
know there will be an accord of high ideals which weld the 
civilised countries of the world together in such a bond of 
friendship that there will be little probability of such a war as 
is now being fought ever occurring again. 

"We are indeed grateful to your glorious country, to your 
noble President, and your high ideals. We also glory in the 



— 22 — 



sterling American soldiers now at the front aiding our Allies 
in the great fight for Liberty and Justice" . 



RESOLUTION. 



After Dr. Vesnic had concluded, the Secretary of the meeting 
submitted to the approval of those present the following decla- 
ration which was unanimously adopted: — 

"We Jugoslavs, Czecho-Slovaks and Poles, citizens of 
the U. S. A. and residents in the State of New York, assembled 
at a meeting in the Hotel Astor on the occasion of a reception 
to the Mission representing the people of Serbia, do hereby 
with love and pride welcome and greet in the city of New York 
the representatives of martyred Serbia, which has so valiantly 
fought and which has fallen — only temporarily — as the result 
of the atrocious and barbarous aggression on the part of the 
invading Teuton. These distinguished representatives are 
here with us as the spokesmen of those peoples who have 
undergone untold privations and sufferings and have given 
their all for the cause of the Allied peoples — the cause of 
Liberty and Justice. We greet them, not only as the spokes- 
men of the Serbian people, but also as the spokesmen of the 
Jugoslavs and the other Slav peoples of Austria-Hungary in 
their struggle for freedom and independence, and we are — 

Resolved that we, as Americans and Slavs, do express 
our unequivocal approval of the declaration of war by this our 
native and adopted country, the United States of America, 
upon the autocratic and despotic Government of Austria- 
Hungary, which has for centuries oppressed its Slav subjects; 
and we commend our great leader President Woodrow Wilson, 
the champion of Right and Justice, backed by 100,000,000 
Americans, for pursuing this great struggle with no desire for 
conquest, but with the sole end and purpose of the annihilation 
of autocracy and the complete establishment of liberty and 
freedom for all peoples and nationalities; the attainment of 
which, however, is not possible except by the dismemberment 
of Austria-Hungary; and be it further — 

Resolved that, as the aims and aspirations of the Serbs 
and other Slav peoples coincide with those of the great 
Republic, it is our fervent hope and wish that the bond of 
friendship which binds the Slav peoples to the people of the 
great American Republic may become indissoluble, through the 



— 23 — 

attainment of those ideals for which all liberty-loving people 
have fought, by the establishment of a world democracy; and 
be it further — 

Resolved that the Secretary of this meeting be directed, 
as hereby he is, to forward copies of this Resolution to His 
Excellency Woodrow Wilson, President of the United States, 
and to the representatives of the various Allied nations." 



Telegrams expressing loyalty and admiration were des- 
patched to President Wilson, to King Peter of Serbia, to the 
Prince Regent Alexander (Commander-in-Chief of the Serbian 
army), to Mr. Nikola Pasic (Serbian Prime Minister), and to 
the Yugoslav Committee in London. 



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